Boston Globe: In Ark., a complex divide on religious freedom, gay rights

[LiberalArkie]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/04/21/arkansas-towns-reveal-more-nuanced-divide-over-religious-liberty-and-gay-marriage/otWwPCn12iyZqgbkzUyI7N/story.html?event=event25

BERRYVILLE, Ark. — Crosses of varying size adorn the walls at a decades-old flower shop just off the main square, the heart of this traditional Bible Belt community. Across the street, a small museum boasts a collection of nearly 1,000 handguns.

Rhonda Oberg’s Nita-Faye Flowers and Gifts is just the kind of business many would see as benefiting from a so-called religious freedom law, which could allow her to refuse to sell flowers for gay weddings. And conservative Berryville is just the kind of place where such a law might be welcomed.


But even in a place where churches outnumber restaurants, many of those often touted as the law’s beneficiaries — such as florists and caterers — don’t see an overwhelming need. In fact, some question its very spirit.

“Discrimination is discrimination,” said Oberg, who has no qualms offering bright wedding bouquets to the neighboring gay-friendly town of Eureka Springs. “It’s ridiculous.”

Oberg is the unwitting pawn in an ideological battle that is playing out in state houses from Maine to Louisiana. It has moved fastest in Arkansas and Indiana, where conservative politicians and religious activists have demanded residents receive a legal right to insulate themselves from a potential encroachment on their faith, such as refusing services for events like gay weddings.

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[joeybee12]

1. Good for Ms. Oberg...knr